After Shepherd failed to reach terms with ABC on a new contract, she announced Thursday that she will leave ABC's morning chat show. McCarthy, who has become a lightning rod for criticism since her hiring last summer, quickly announced that she was bolting too.

"The number 7 is God’s number of completion & after 7 seasons my time at The View is now complete," Shepherd tweeted.

McCarthy, whose widely discredited pre-"View" campaign against childhood vaccines dogged her throughout her time on the show, then tweeted to followers: "If Sherri goes ... I go too. #sisters."

TMZ reported that longtime executive producer Bill Geddie had been pushed out in a major housecleaning, but a network spokeswoman said that no such decision had been made.

ABC did confirm, however, that big changes are coming to "The View," which has already weathered the retirement in May of co-creator and cohost Barbara Walters and is facing intense competition from CBS' rival show, "The Talk." Whoopi Goldberg is the only current cohost whose status will apparently be unchanged heading into next season.

"'The View' will be moving in an exciting new direction next year, and ABC has made decisions to evolve the show creatively," the network wrote in a statement.

ABC has announced no successors yet, but one tantalizing possibility in the Hollywood rumor mill had Rosie O'Donnell returning to the show. O'Donnell had a stormy tenure as cohost before leaving in 2007; she returned as a guest in February, her first time on the show in seven years.

Walters is due to appear on the program as a guest on Friday morning, to plug her interview with the father of Santa Barbara mass murderer Elliott Rodger.